Latino Superintendents Lead School Districts In Texas' Eight Largest Cities

Arlington Independent School District Superintendent Marcelo Cavazos stands with Melissa Aguilar during Operation Graduation Walk last Saturday. Cavazos spent the morning visiting students like Melissa in an effort to convince them to return to school.

José L. Parra has led the Irving Independent School District since January 2014.

Irving ISD

With a new school superintendent taking over this fall in Houston, every one of Texas’ eight largest cities now has a Latino running the school district. That’s a big deal in a state with a surging Hispanic population and a history of political underrepresentation. In the first chapter of a statewide collaborative series, KERA digs into the implications for students, schools and the politics of education.

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The KERA Radio story. Part one of a statewide collaborative education series.

In a school district where nearly 45 percent of students are Hispanic, Arlington superintendent Marcelo Cavazos’ bilingual skills come in handy. During a recent visit to a class at Carter Junior High School, Cavazos asked the students in Spanish what they want to study and what career they want to have.

One student said he wants to be a doctor. Another said she’d like to be a teacher.

“Gracias,” he told her. “When can you start?”

The kids in the class laugh.

It’s not just the language that helps Cavazos connect with these students, it’s his roots. As a kid, he helped his parents pick crops in the fields of south Texas.

“I think education is so complex now that it requires someone with that sensitivity and with that background,” she said.

In her long tenure, Guerra’s noticed that the parents who don’t speak English or speak very little of it will ask her questions they wouldn’t ask anyone else.

“When I attend parent meetings, open houses, school visits and we have parents in audience, they feel very comfortable in speaking to me because I understand them for one,” she said. “And then, secondly, I can relate to them as an individual having grown up in this area.”

She said parents get more involved in their kids’ education when they feel understood. Guerra’s experience tracks with what the research so far shows – that Latino leaders can make a difference in Latino students’ classroom experience and get parents more engaged.

When he was a principal hiring teachers in a predominately Latino school, Scribner said he recalled telling people that he'd "rather hire someone with a bilingual heart than a bilingual tongue."

“So it’s a question of hiring someone who has the values to serve,” Scribner said. “[And] understands the complexities of multiculturalism, which is actually going to be a mainstream conversation moving forward.”

The implications, however, extend beyond school grounds and into the realm of state politics. Frank Hernandez is associate dean of the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. One of his primary areas of research is Latinos and school leadership.

Frank Hernandez is the Annette and Harold Simmons Centennial Chair in Education Policy and Leadership and Associate Dean of the Simmons School of Education & Human Development at SMU.

Credit SMU

“What we find is that they [Latino superintendents] often are having to implement policies that are made at the state level and those individuals who are making policies may not necessarily be connected to the kinds of needs the community has,” Hernandez said.

That can force superintendents into positions where they have to advocate for their districts or even argue with lawmakers. Hernandez said those conversations are important, and thinks education needs more Latinos -- and in particular Latinas -- at the table.

"Historically, Latinas spend more time in the classroom, more time as school administrators like principals and really have, historically, needed more support...to take on leadership positions that have historically been for men," Hernandez said.

To achieve this, Hernandez recommends more mentoring and something called superintendent leadership academies.

“These academies will take district leaders or Latino school leaders and really work with them over a year long period to prepare them for the superintendent,” he said.

And that means more Latinos ready and willing to take on the role of superintendent when the time comes. Not just in Texas’ largest cities, Hernandez said, but in suburban and rural districts, too.

Paz of TALAS believes there needs to be a "ground swell from the teaching ranks."

"Right now, we're barely, barely scratching the surface," he said. "When you consider that, nationally, we represent less than 3 percent of all superintendents in the country, then you can see how far away we are from meeting the demand. Then, when you break that down into the number of Latina superintendents, then it's a bigger challenge."

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